


Casual Conversation

by NatalieSchmatalie



Category: Dangerous Fellows (Visual Novel)
Genre: Cute, Fluff, Kinda Beating around the bush about feelings, Lawrence is a yandere jealous weirdo, its cute i think, just a quick moment, nothing special
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-29 14:43:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19022029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatalieSchmatalie/pseuds/NatalieSchmatalie
Summary: You feel like getting away from things for a while and take a breather on the rooftop. Up there, you see the familiar face of the dude you’ve been crushing on since this whole nightmare went down.





	Casual Conversation

“Where do you think you’re going all by your lonesome?” Lawrence asks, that usual plastic smile painted on his face. 

“To the roof,” I reply, “I want to be alone.” 

The soft, brown haired boys smile stayed, but his eyes showed his disdain at my retort. He looked away from me and let out a small puff of air. “I see,” he says, “be safe. Remember to come back before it gets too dark. You never know what could be up there.” 

I give Lawrence a quick ‘mm-hm’ before I grab my salvaged notepad and head up the stairs.

For me, the term ‘alone’ had become less of genuinely-wanting-to-be-alone and more of getting-away-from-Lawrence. Lawrence hadn’t given himself away as a bad person, but he isn’t exactly a good one either. Slowly he’s been giving off more and more bad vibes. I don’t trust him anymore, and that’s what matters. I can feel it every time we meet. Whether we were friends or not, he’s changed. He definitely doesn’t like when I hang out with the other guys in the group. I can see it when his bright eyes cloud with jealousy, but even so, his perfect smile still persists. I guess that’s why he’s the leader, nobody can seem to see through the facade. That is, anyone who gets remotely close ends up “missing”. I choose to keep my mouth shut for the time being. It’s not like I haven’t noticed what’s been happening, and how convenient it seems that those who question his authority mysteriously disappear and don’t return. I can only assume everyone else is doing the same so they don’t end up like our lost friends.

I push the thoughts about Lawrence aside when I finally reach the roof. The door creeks open under the weight of my arms and the brisk fall air blasts past me as I walk through. The alluring scent of the dying autumn leaves fills my senses and it quickly reminds me that it won’t be long before it becomes winter. I thought about going back to get a heavy coat I salvaged that I stashed in my room to keep me warm, but it would be too long to go back and it wasn’t too cold at the moment. 

To the left of me I heard a rustling against the chain link fence that lined the rooftop of the school building. My heartbeat quickened a little. I hadn’t even thought to have brought a weapon up here in my desire to get away, expecting the rooftops to be empty just like every other time we’ve patrolled for zombies. Making sure I had a clear route to the exit, I slowly began to creep towards the noise to see what it could be. In front of me was a giant vent, the clanging sounds coming from behind. I slouched over, feet planted to be ready to run if I got into trouble, and stayed as quiet as possible so I wouldn't draw attention to myself. As I rounded the corner of the vent, I saw a familiar figure bouncing back and forth on the fence, like a bored child waiting for his turn to bat in a baseball game. I let out a small relieved sigh and was quickly met with a lead pipe inches from my face. I felt the swift wind pass my face and my eyes widened in surprise, goosebumps forming on my skin. I straightened myself up and quickly raised my hands in mock surrender. 

“It’s just me, Zion, Jesus.” I spoke softly. Zion visibly relaxed and steadied his weapon on his shoulder, letting out an exasperated sigh. 

“What do ya think you’re doing scarin’ me like that? I could have killed you.” 

A giggle escapes me. I was just glad it wasn’t a zombie. “Of all people, it just had to be you up here, huh?” Zion raises an eyebrow and relaxes back on the cold metal, making it squeal underneath his weight. There was a brief silence before he scoffed and continued to bounce his body off the fence. 

“You’re going to attract something with all that noise, you know.” At the sound of my voice he stopped again, this time a smirk on his face.

“If that’s the case then I’ve already got what I wanted.”

My eyes rolled almost reflexively at his remark and I scooted next to him on the fence. We stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity. I snuck a glance over to his face, noticing his eyes fixed tightly to the moon. His bright fire red hair was muted by the soft, pale moonlight, but his yellow eyes still shown as loud as ever. I could see so many wheels turning turning behind those eyes, the steam practically erupting from his ears. I looked away so I didn’t stare for too long, but he must have felt my eyes boring into him because out of the corner of my eye I saw him shift my way. The deep rumble of his voice reverberated through the darkness as he spoke up.

“So, what are you doing up here tonight? Patrol is over and done with, nobody needs to be up here.”

”The same as you I suppose, considering I could ask you the same question.” 

“Heh. Yeah, true.” And again, silence. The night was stagnant, so much you could choke on how thick the air felt. I decided to leave things where they were and turned to my notebook for company. I doodled random pictures on the paper, hoping any small idea could trigger a big idea, but my creative well was dry and no matter how hard I tried, none of the water would flow. 

“I guess I’m just thinking, y‘know?” Zion piped up. “About all of this. I miss being home. Sometimes when I’m up here and everything’s quiet, it’s almost like things are normal just for a moment.” 

I knew exactly how he felt. I too missed home and I would give anything for things to be normal again. I looked at Zion and expected to see pain, but all I saw was simply calm. He wasn’t the type to let these things bug him, so I wasn’t surprised he was easily okay with how times were now. 

“Y’know,” he spoke again, a lighter tone gracing his voice, “if it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t have met any of the guys. I wouldn’t have met your either, but that would have been a blessing.” 

I gasped in fake offense and pushed his shoulder. His gentle laughter echoed through the black sky and made me smile. It was no secret how I felt about Zion, but considering the circumstances, I always pushed them down. Any distraction could prove fatal in this new world, so there was no time for emotional nonsense. But still, in this moment, it was hard not to let those feelings surface. 

“What do you want to do if we ever get out of here?” I asked as I slinked myself down to sit on the cold concrete of the rooftop. Zion took a few minutes to think, again the wheels working and the steam blowing, until he slowly followed me to my level. 

“I really just want to play a good, messy game of soccer.”

”Oh?” I replied surprised, “that’s all?”

”It’s all I can really think of,” he shrugged, “soccer was my only escape in school. And man did I feel badass running down that field.” I watched him as he explained his high school soccer career. His various wins, losses, injuries. The passion made his eyes burn even brighter, but the hardest part was watching the light die when he finished. Zion’s quick bungee into hope made me feel a bit guilty for bringing it up. Part of me thought I should have just kept my mouth shut. 

“Sorry,” was all that came to mind to say. I felt him shift against the fence and saw one knee come up out of my peripherals. Looking over, I saw his arm propped up on the raised knee and now he was facing me, those eyes searing into my soul. 

“What’re you sorry for? Ain’t your fault this happened.”

”Unless it is,” I joked. 

“Well if that’s the case you know I’d have to kill you.”

We both laughed. It felt nice to be able to laugh again with someone else. 

“What about you? Little miss mysterious got any plans?”

”I don’t really know anymore. I mull it over from the time I wake up to the time I go to sleep. Honestly, I just want to get out of here with everyone.” I take a deep breath, suddenly noticing my heartbeat quickening with my thoughts. “You all just mean a lot to me, y’know?”

Zion groans and rolls his eyes. “So sappy.” He says in a mildly disgusted tone. It almost makes me regret saying anything here too, but then I hear a sigh in his direction. “I getcha,” he says a little softer, “Honestly, I never had friends you know. And now, I don’t know what I’d do if I lost any of them. That sounds really stupid and corny, but it’s true.” 

I just look at him and smile. He catches my eyes as I’m watching him. Slowly he loses his composure and I can see the light dusting of pink in the moonlight. Zion furrows his brow and finally boils over. “What?!” He shouts at me, obviously embarrassed from being emotionally vulnerable. 

“Nothing.” I speak nonchalantly. “I think it’s sweet. But don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you’re so soft.” 

The pink gets deeper and I can see his annoyance. He shoves me and tells me to shut up, turning away from me and the conversation. Turning back to watch the moon, I can see his eyebrows knit tightly together.

It’s comfortably quiet now. Wind pushes my hair gently out of place and I listen closely to it weaving through the empty buildings of the city, their hollow shells singing eerily in the distance. I look again over at Zion after a few minutes have passed, but to my surprise I catch him looking at me first. My confidence almost wavers, he’s so pretty I can’t stand it, but I compose myself enough to ask what he wants. He flashes that big, arrogant grin at me and I melt. 

“You’ll come to my game right? I’m the star player. Quite the spectacle to miss if I do say so myself.” His cockiness crushes me and I can’t help but chuckle. Instead of making a joke, I go straight for the serious answer. 

“Of course. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” I hesitate, but make steady eye contact to get my point across. “You’re my favorite player after all.” 

Zion just stares at me, his smile still plastered on his softly lit face. He lifts a hand and places it on my head. He ruffles my already unkept hair, moving his arm down around my shoulder and pulling me in closer. “I know, kid.” My face is bonfire hot, but the soft breeze comes through to cool me off as if it could tell I needed it. 

“Zion?” I asked, my eyelids drooping from the comfort against his chest. The feeling of another body was warm and inviting, making it an instant sleep machine. I could feel the vibration of his voice when he replied, only making my tired eyes more heavy. “Tell me about the best game you ever played.”

”Hah? Didn’t I just tell you all you needed to know?” I couldn’t muster enough energy to reply, but when he looked down and saw the exhaustion on my face, he began to understand. 

“Aight so, the game went like this...” As his voice went on, I slowly drifted off to sleep, for once in these past few weeks feeling comfortable in all of this misery. 

Zion trailed off once he realized I had fallen fast asleep. He let out a breath and rubbed his hand down the arm he had hold of. “You can’t fall asleep out here, idiot,” he mumbled, “You’re lucky I’m here.” Zion gingerly put my notebook in my arms, lifted me up, and carried me inside back to the safety of my own classroom. It was the only night I seemed to get any real sleep in a long while.  

**Author's Note:**

> Lol I’m sorry if it’s bad it’s late and I had this stashed somewhere for months goodbye


End file.
